


Simulation

by Meimi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Angst, Episode 117, Episode Tag, M/M, just a little dark in places
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:49:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21790081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meimi/pseuds/Meimi
Summary: Episode Tag for episode 117. Ai's thoughts before they head into the final duel.
Relationships: Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku
Comments: 8
Kudos: 34





	Simulation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlizzardPrince](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlizzardPrince/gifts).



> My friend Jean wants to draw something for the weekly aiyusa theme "simulation", so I typed this out for him to hopefully provide some inspiration. :3

_"Go into hiding."_

There's a millisecond there, a brief moment in time that encapsulates an entire universe of thought, where Ai freezes. He'd been expecting that, or something of the kind. Yusaku never, ever gave up on him. And that's why he can't stop. It would be so easy to though, to let the tremendous weight of so very many simulated lives break him down, scatter him to pieces, fall down to his knees, huddle on the floor at Yusaku's feet where he _knows_ he was always meant to be. Ai knows that's where he was always meant to be. _With Yusaku_.

In a better world.

But this isn't a better world.

The other Ignis — _his friends_ — are all gone, and with them went any chance of there ever being a happy ending. Not for him.

He tried. Oh, how he tried. Ai tried so many times, with so many futures. Every little detail was taken out of context, observed to a fanatical degree, then altered just enough to hopefully change things for the better, and placed back into the simulation… and yet, they always, always, **always** came back with the same results.

He told Yusaku he loved him. So, so many times.

He knew what that was like, to be loved by Yusaku, to be happy together. And to have it _**still**_ end the very same way.

Other times, he did everything he could think of to make Yusaku believe he didn't care one whit. But no matter what he did, Yusaku _never_ believed him. Yusaku would never turn his back on Ai, and because of that he always died. Every single time.

Ai couldn't live without Yusaku. He _knows that_. He knows that down into the very core of his programming. Yusaku is imprinted upon every single piece of his code. Every little binary segment. He knows because everytime _it happened_ a little bit more of him would break and he'd go on and end the world that _dared_ to end his. He can't live without Yusaku, and if he can't then _**no one will**_.

That's why they're here now. Because Ai can't change the future. And while he knows that Yusaku would forgive him for what he might do in any future — _Yusaku would always, always forgive him anything_ —, Ai also knows that all those hopeless endings aren't something Yusaku would want.

Ai has to be the one who dies.

And he can't just do it himself. No, of course not. Why would anything ever be so simple for him? No no. He'd run those simulations too. Of course, he did. Everytime he kills himself, Yusaku would always find a way to bring him back and then they'd just be right back where they'd started. Didn't work. Didn't ever work. No. There were a few where he arranged for other people to do the deed, but those always ended so badly too. Yusaku wouldn't forgive SOL, so that route would always lead to him being at odds with the Zaizen siblings. Yusaku would forgive Takeru or Ryoken if they did it, but it always broke something in him to do it. Anyone else and Yusaku just… No no, Ai couldn't do that. He wouldn't.

Yusaku had to be the one who did it. The one who ended it all.

It wasn't justice. It wasn't fair. This world had none of those notions left in it, assuming it ever did.

No.

**No.**

This was the only way, and to be honest, Ai wasn't even sure it would work. Oh yes, Yusaku would kill him. Ai had arranged everything to be absolutely certain of that final result. But he also knew that Yusaku wouldn't leave it at that. He never did. Yusaku would never let him go. And Ai supposed he was okay with that. _This time_. Because he'd run a simulation for _this_ too.

There was truly no way out. He was bound too tightly to Yusaku to ever have any hope of escaping. Not that he wanted to.

They were about to have their ever so grand duel: _Ai, the Dark Ignis, pitted against his beloved other half, Playmaker_. Ai would be himself. Too much of himself, perhaps, but it was necessary. Yusaku had to understand what was at stake here, and to do that, Ai had to spill his guts. But not easily, oh no, it had to be believable.

Ai was going to die.

In the eyes of the world.

And who knows? Maybe he'd stay that way, but Ai truly, truly doubted that. He hadn't completed this simulation. Hadn't been able to. The variables were too intensely polarized to get a good read. He could die and stay dead, join the other Ignis in the nothingness they had all become. Or Yusaku could be Yusaku and not give up on him, not for anything. That was the most likely outcome. And maybe that would be enough of a change to make a difference.

Ai hoped so.

He really, really did.

Because there were still other avenues he could pursue to stop it. Less savory ones. Less pleasant. After all, nothing said he had to end the world _after_ it murdered Yusaku.

So Ai put on a smile and told Yusaku no. No no, there was still more pain left for them yet on this path he'd chosen for them. Pain and death, and maybe, just maybe… a better future.


End file.
